The present disclosure relates to an integrated range hood with a safety device, as defined in the preamble of claim 1.
Namely, the hood is a downdraft exhaust hood, i.e. a downward fume exhausting hood integrated in the cooktop.
As known, downdraft exhaust range hoods, i.e. downward fume exhausting hoods integrated in the cooktop, comprise a box-like housing oriented parallel to a vertical wall of the range base, with its opening located at the cooktop, through which the hood can be fitted in and pulled out.
The fume intake is conventionally located on the upper cross member of a frame, which is adapted to be displaced from a first position in which said intake is entirely within the housing and below the cooktop, and a second position in which it is located outside said housing and above the cooktop, in an operating fume exhaust position.
The fume intake conventionally communicates with the interior of said box-like housing, which also contains means for evacuating and eliminating the fumes.
Furthermore, motor means are provided for displacement of said frame within the housing, these means comprising, for instance, a mechanical or hydraulic jack whose stem is fixed to one point of a cross member of the frame and is actuated by an electric motor in either displacement direction.
According to a particular known type of such hood, a worktop is sometimes associated with said cross member of said frame, above the intake, and has a contour that extends beyond the contour that delimits the cross member, coinciding, for instance, with additional lateral tops, which are designed to increase the useful surface of the worktop.
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With this arrangement of the worktop, as the hood is lowered into the box-like housing, a portion of the operator's hand, e.g. one finger, may be trapped below the worktop, between the projecting contour of the top and the edge of the housing opening of the hood frame.
In this circumstance, the downward displacement of the hood continues at least until the conventional energy absorption sensor, associated with the electric motor, is triggered as it detects a stress exceeding a predetermined maximum value, cuts off power to the motor, and reverses the direction of rotation to cause the hood to move upwards.
The motor is stopped and its direction is reversed, thereby releasing the finger trapped below the worktop, only upon reaching an energy absorption level that is necessarily higher, though slightly, than the energy absorption associated with a regular up and down motion of the hood imposed by the overall weight of the frame and the elements connected thereto.
Even in the case of an integrated hood that has no worktop attached above the upper cross member of the frame, a hand of the operator may be still introduced in the fume intake while the hood is driven by the motor members into the housing, and be trapped against the edge of the housing opening.
Here again, the torque sensors of the electric motor must be triggered to stop the downward movement of the hood an release the hand.
Since the weight of an integrated hood typically ranges from 8 to 10 kg, the potential damage to the finger trapped below the worktop, or the hand inserted in the intake, although the torque sensor of the motor is triggered, is not negligible and constitutes a drawback.
The invention has the object of providing a downdraft range hood that can solve the problems of the above discussed prior art.
Its purposes are achieved by the provision of a downdraft range hood as defined in claim 1 herein below.
In one embodiment, a downdraft range hood can be provided that can limit the possible injury caused when a finger or hand of a user is accidentally pinched as the hood fits into the housing.
In one embodiment, a downdraft range hood can be provided that affords the same safety level as prior art arrangements, but is more reliable and less expensive.
The characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure will appear from the following detailed description of a possible practical embodiment, illustrated as a non-limiting example in the set of drawings, in which:
Even when this is not expressly stated, the individual features as described with reference to the particular embodiments shall be intended as auxiliary to and/or interchangeable with other features described with reference to other exemplary embodiments.
Referring to the aforementioned figures and particularly to
This housing 1 is defined by the side walls 2 and 3, the bottom 4 and a top opening 5.
The housing is conventionally oriented parallel to a vertical wall of the base of a range, the latter being of conventional type and not shown, and having a cooktop that may coincide with the plane of the opening 5 of the housing 1 although, in one alternative, such opening may be located higher than the conventional plane of the cooktop with the burners.
Preferably, the housing 1 is oriented parallel to the rear of the base of the range.
The frame 1A of the integrated hood IB comprises the vertical columns 6 and 7, resting upon the walls 2 and 3 of the housing 1, which also act as guides for the columns, as well as an upper cross member 8 with a mainly longitudinally extending fume intake 9.
The opening 9 communicates with the interior of the housing 1 from which fumes are evacuated and eliminated from the range, using conventional suction means, generally referenced 10.
In addition to the cross member 8, the frame IB of the hood also has an intermediate beam 11 having the end 12 of a hydraulic or mechanical jack 13, actuated, for instance, by an electric motor 14, connected thereto. Such jack is equipped, as is known in the art, by a torque sensor or an implement for measuring the absorbed power, such that its operation may be stopped and its direction of rotation may be possibly reversed as a predetermined absorption value is exceeded.
A worktop, referenced 15, is associated with the cross member 8, and may be either at the same level as the cooktop or at a higher level.
The worktop 15 is embodied by the range top and defines a surface that is parallel to the walkway plane upon which the range is operatively placed.
Shelves 16 and 17 may be provided in the hood of the invention, at the sides of the worktop 15, and be attached outside the vertical walls 2 and 3 of the housing 1 respectively, at the same level as the top 15 when the hood is in its lowered position, with the frame retracted in the housing 1.
Referring to
This separation between the worktop 15 and the cross member 8 will ensure safety of the user, as it will prevent pinching of an obstacle, e.g. a finger of a user, below the top 15. This, when the hood 1B moves under the action of the means 14 to fit into the housing 1, the obstacle shall only bear the weight of the worktop 15 and not the entire frame 1A and the hence the hood IB.
Particularly, according to a preferred embodiment, the disconnection means 19, 24 comprise:
In one aspect, the worktop 15 comprises at least one hole 20 formed in the cross member 8 and aligned with the element 19 that extends there through in axially sliding fashion.
It shall be noted that the rod-like element 19 is removably connected to the surface 18 of the top 15, e.g. with the interposition of a glue and/or another mechanical connecting arrangement.
In one embodiment, the top 15 is embodied by a rectangular element whose thickness is smaller than the width and length dimensions.
A material that may constitute this worktop 15 is, for instance, glass, steel or other materials.
In other words, a rod-like element 19 is attached to the bottom surface 18 of the top 15, and extends perpendicular to said surface toward the opening 5 of the housing 1, and extends through the hole 20 formed in the cross member 8 of the hood frame.
The free end 21 of the rod-like element 19 is equipped with the abutment 22 in the form of a plate, against which the end 23 of the elastic member 24 coaxially located on the rod-like element 19 engages.
The other end 25 of the elastic member 24 reacts against the cross member 8 around the hole 20.
The length of the elastic member 25 and its elastic properties are selected in view of ensuring an elastic separation, to a predetermined extent, of the top 15 from the cross member 8, if an obstacle, e.g. a finger of a user, is placed below the top 15, in its contour portion 15A that projects out of the contour of the cross member 8 and beyond the edge 5A of the opening 5 of the housing 1, as the hood is lowered.
In one embodiment, the elastic member 24 consists of a spring.
Namely, according to the invention, the extent to which the worktop 15 is elastically separated from the cross member 8, as set by the dimensions of the spring 24 and those of the rod-like element 19 during displacement of the hood frame, will generate an elastic reaction in the spring that is equal to a predetermined fraction of the overall weight on the jack 13 and the motor 14 which ensure the displacement of said frame in the housing.
For example, this fraction is smaller than 5%, preferably smaller than 3%, more preferably smaller than 1% the weight of the hood 1, which is conventionally about 8 to 10 kg.
Although the spring 24 and the rod-like element 19 have been only shown in the drawings of
In one aspect, the pair of such rod-like elements 19 and elastic members 24, i.e. the springs, are located proximate to a respective end of the worktop 15 in aligned and parallel relationship.
Referring to
Each spring 26 is fixed by its end 27 to its respective column by means of a cantilever support 28, which is rigidly joined to the column, and a screw 29.
The physical and elastic properties of the spring 26 are selected in view of balancing at least 20% the overall weight of the hood frame (which is known to range from 8 to 10 kg) at the end of the movement by which it fits into the housing 1.
The free end 30 of the springs 26 carried by each column of the frame 1B rests against the bottom 4 of the housing, the motor 14 is stopped and at least part of the whole weight of the frame is borne by the springs 26 and deforms them.
The connection between the motor 14 and the hood frame, when the motor is not powered, is deemed to be reversible (due to the clearance between the jack and the driving rod), to thereby allow the frame to move by gravity and the springs 26 to be deformed.
Alternatively, the compressive deformation of the springs 26 and their elastic load may be obtained by allowing the motor 14 to run an additional number of revolutions after those required and calculated to only move the ends 30 of the springs 26 to contact with the bottom 4 of the housing 1.
With the additional revolutions of the motor, the springs 26 undergo an axial deformation, as shown for instance in
Once the predetermined deformation is reached in the springs 26, the motor 14 is stopped and the hood frame is still in the position it has reached, with the springs 26 in the deformed state.
Of course, this position of the hood frame shall correspond to an exact position of the cross member 8 within the opening 5.
When the hood has to be pulled out, as the frame is lifted, the start of the motor 14 is facilitated by the initial thrust imparted by the elastic energy stored in the springs 26 and released as they are restored to their initial length.
Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants as described above may be made to fulfill particular requirements, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.